UK floods: Rail passengers face misery as London lines are hit by cancellations and delays

Rail passengers travelling to and from London were today facing misery as flooding and strong winds cause delays on the railways.

Fewer than half the normal number of services were running on some major commuter routes to London from the Home Counties this morning.

Speed restrictions have also been put in place across large parts of the country as strong winds batter Britain.

Network Rail's Robin Gisby said: "I'm afraid it's going to be another difficult day for passengers."

Related stories

Mr Gisby, the managing director of network operations, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have got restrictions at Maidenhead - that's groundwater coming up into the railway as much as flooding coming sideways.

"We're only running five trains an hour - normally It would be 12 through there - and there are delays of five, 10, 15 minutes a train.

"Similarly we have got a restricted service between Oxford and down to Didcot. We don't expect that to get any worse today - obviously we will keep passengers updated through the websites and so on.

"With the rain that's coming tonight and the effect that has on the Thames, we will keep watching that over the next couple of days."

Among the worst-hit sections of railway affecting London were:

First Great Western trains from London Paddington to Swindon and Swansea;

Southern trains from East Croydon to Oxted;

South West Trains services from Staines to Windsor and Eton Riverside - no service;

South West Trains from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo;

First Great Westerm Services from Penzance to London Paddington.

Mr Gisby, who has warned it could take months before the rail network is fully repaired following the floods, said Network Rail was watching "several hundred sites" and there were concerns about embankments, including on the Somerset Levels where they were being battered by waves from an "inland sea".

He said Network Rail was spending around £10 million a week on earthworks: "That's money that's very necessary because we have to take the Victorian inheritance we have got and build it for the very different climatic conditions we are clearly going to face in the future."

48/79
Floods

49/79
Floods

A taxi struggles to make its way through the water in Staines (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

50/79
Floods

One Staines residents wades through the floods (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

51/79
Floods

A resident in Staines attempts to keep the water out of her property (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

52/79
Floods

The floods in Staines on Tuesday (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

53/79
Floods

A cyclists in the floodwater in Staines (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

54/79
Floods

A rubbish truck makes its way through the rising water (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

55/79
Floods

Volunteers help residents brave the flood water in Purley on Thames (PA)

56/79
Floods

A man posts a letter in Staines (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

57/79
Floods

Ed Miliband with Victoria Groulef, Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West, during a visit to Purley on Thames (PA)

58/79
Floods

The scene in Staines on Tuesday (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

59/79
Floods

Defence Minister Philip Hammond is confronted by Wraysbury resident Su Burrows over the Government response to the flooding along the river Thames (Sky News)

60/79
Floods

A postman in Wraysbury, Berkshire, struggles to deliver the mail (Jeremy Selwyn)

61/79
Floods

Swans on the doorstep on the Wraysbury village club (Jeremy Selwyn)

62/79
Floods

Residents in Wraysbury have been forced to leave their homes (Jeremy Selwyn)

63/79
Floods

Paddling through the streets of Wraysbury (Jeremy Selwyn)

64/79
Floods

Residents wade through floodwater in the village of Wraysbury in Berkshire (AFP)

65/79
Floods

Residents in Wraysbury paddle through the village (AFP)

66/79
Floods

Sandbags and wellies are needed in Wraysbury (AFP)

67/79
Floods

A flooded field in Wraysbury (Jeremy Selwyn)

68/79
Floods

Wading through water in Shepperton (Jeremy Selwyn)

69/79
Floods

Sunjata Jolly and her daughter Sapna are rescued by the Fire Brigade in Staines (Jeremy Selwyn)

70/79
Floods

Driving conditions in Shepperton today were not ideal... (Jeremy Selwyn)

71/79
Floods

Two girls called Maddie and Bella smile broadly as they are carried by their poor father, James, to their house in Dunally Park, Shepperton (Jeremy Selwyn)

72/79
Floods

Holding on tight in Shepperton (Jeremy Selwyn)

73/79
Floods

A girl paddles a canoe filled with belongings in Datchet after the Thames burst its banks

DATCHET, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 10: Beatrix Thurner paddles her boat as she removes possessions from a house threatened by rising flood water after the river Thames burst it's banks on February 10, 2014 in Datchet, England. The Environment Agency has issued

74/79
Floods

A man helps a child through the ankle deep floodwater (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

THAMES FLOODS AT TWICKENHAM TODAY
PICTURE JEREMY SELWYN
07/02/2014

75/79
Floods

A woman pushing a wheelbarrow through the rising water (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

THAMES FLOODS AT TWICKENHAM TODAY
PICTURE JEREMY SELWYN
07/02/2014

76/79
Floods

Van battles through the flood (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

THAMES FLOODS AT TWICKENHAM TODAY
PICTURE JEREMY SELWYN
07/02/2014

77/79
Floods

A woman struggles through flood water on a push bike in Twickenham (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

THAMES FLOODS AT TWICKENHAM TODAY
PICTURE JEREMY SELWYN
07/02/2014

78/79
Floods

A woman walks through a flooded street in Twickenham (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)